FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2010 file photo, a customer pushes a shopping cart outside a Kmart store in Redwood City, Calif. In an interview with The Associated Press, home goods mogul Martha Stewart said she regrets not buying Kmart before a deal with the discount chain went sour. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WSLS/WAVY) – Kmart will close three more stores in Virginia, according to a company spokesman. One of the stores is in Virginia Beach.

The retailer says slow holiday sales forced them to speed up the closings.

WSLS, the NBC affiliate in Roanoke, spoke to a company representative who confirmed the closings. The Virginia Beach location will close its doors for good in July. 10 On Your Side confirmed with an employee that it is the location on General Booth Blvd. that is closing. Employees will receive a severance package and the opportunity to apply for open positions at other Kmart and Sears stores. According to the store locator on its website, there will be two stores remaining in Virginia Beach; one at Pembroke and the other at Kemps River.

The other stores announced are on Mall Road in Covington, on General Booth Boulevard in Virginia Beach and in Cedar Bluff in Tazewell County. The stores are expected to close in mid-March and mid-April.

Kmart parent company Sears Holdings is closing the stores are part of an ongoing effort to reduce expenses, adjust its asset base and accelerate the transformation of its business model.